Tag: My Hero Academia

How the heck is Team Endeavor gonna beat All For One?

AFO isn’t in his prime, but he’s not to be underestimated either. This is the fight I’m most looking forward to because I have no idea how the heroes are gonna win. Buuut, if I had to guess…Star & Stripe’s pilots will lend a hand. And, I’m still hoping an international hero or two shows up (i.e. Captain Celebrity and The Crawler) to assist. Basically, I’m betting everything on this fight being the best in the entire arc.

Ah, yes. The old keep-the-protagonist-and-antagonist-separate-until-the-final-battle trope. I’m fine with it because I want to see Toga’s story wrapped up. But, in a good way. We’ve got the drama between her, Ochaco, and Deku as well as Twice’s blood, making her a serious threat. All the ingredients for a good battle, but I’m still worried. I smell a drop of redemption in that conflict cupcake. Maybe not redemption, but a tragic figure. That’s not a bad thing, it just comes down to how everything plays out.

Divide and conquer.

That’s pretty much the chapter. Having Monoma use Kurogiri’s teleportation quirk to transport the caged villains to different locations. Good seeing Monoma, along with Shinso, play an important role in the final arc.

Yep. It’s confirmed Shinso brainwashed the Aoyama Family to bypass AFO’s lie detection quirk. Nice. I hope Shinso joins the battle against Team AFO. His quirk will be really useful if used strategically. Have him call AFO a rat bastard in All Might’s voice. That’ll guarantee AFO responds and gets brainwashed.

The stage is set. The actors are ready. Now, go out there a break a leg. A couple of ribs too; AFO deserves it.

The ol’ double cross. Always a good start to a fight scene. Nice going, Aoyama. Maybe not Oscar worthy, but you’re definitely getting a MTV award for that performance. AFO mentioned stealing his lie detector quirk from someone whose descendent’s working with All Might. If you read My Hero Vigilantes, you know AFO’s referring to Detective Tsukauchi. While not confirmed in the spin-off series, we know his sister, Makoto, has a lie detection quirk. Don’t take a Nezu to figure out the good detective has one too.

Are we all in agreement Shinso brainwashed the Aoyama Family over the phone so AFO couldn’t detect them working against him? Yes? Okay, then. Moving on…

The second war begins. Beware of flashbacks.

LOTS of flashbacks. It’s gonna be one of those arcs, Y’All. We’re gotta learn what exactly the heroes’ plan is, as well as the villains’. Spinner’s speech, Toga and Dabi’s full backstory, how Shirakumo’s mind got restored, Ragdoll’s true role being in the thick of it, the possible recruitment of Rappa, Gentle, and La Brava, the heroes asking Stain for help, and much, much more.

And since I did such an awful job predicting the first war, why not give it another try, right?

Oh! Guess I should talk about this chapter first, huh? Okay… The heroes are getting ready for war. And the day is finally here. Like I said, the real juicy stuff will be told through flashbacks. Now with that over, on with the predictions!

1.) Flashbacks up the wazoo! Just thought I’d make this one official.

2.) Recruitment Party. The heroes need allies. That’s where Rappa, Gentle, La Brava, Stain come in. I doubt the good guys want Stain on their team, but now’s not the time to be picky. They need all hands on deck in a major way.

Time for Spinner to take the stage.

That’s right, Y’all. Spinner will lead the disenfranchised heteromorphs on a noble quest for equality. Too bad, even acting a force for “good” means Spinner’s a pawn for the bigger baddies. Shigaraki. Skeptic & the Liberation Army. All For One. To them he’ll simply a means to further their goals. Yep, our pal Spinner continues his trend of being in waaaay over his head.

Does Horikoshi have the talent to pull off the heteromorph inequality angle? To show the plight of those discriminated against and sometimes thought as less than human? Is he just gonna label all of them as bad guys or will we get a bit more subtlety? I hope so, but it’s not looking good. Where was Deku’s disdain for the people attacking the Fox Woman just because of her looks? The reactions from heteromorph heroes when said woman explained being unable to find a place to stay, again, because of her looks?

Toshinori, you cheap bastard! You couldn’t even spare a few bucks on string cheese?

Ah, yes. The ole divide-and-conquer plan. Basically, we’re getting a lot of smaller fights at different locations in the next big war. Gotta split up the baddies, especially All For One and Super Shiggy. So…who’s gonna fight AFO and Shigaraki, respectively? Team Deku VS Shiggy is a given, naturally. But, what about AFO, the OG supervillain? Well, I have a long-standing theory Shigaraki will break free of AFO’s influence and kill him, cementing himself as the undisputed Big Bag. I’m going with that.

The comedic calm before the storm.

Yep, that’s what the chapter was. A little lighthearted breather before things ramp up again. Maybe we’ll get one more. Whether or not we do, it’s nice seeing Hatsume again.

Aizawa’s got a plan. But what is it?

Heck if I know! Maybe the “him” Nezu’s referring to is Stain? Or, Rappa? Or, Gentle? Or, The Crawler? No, no. Let’s not get crazy. Hmm… What about Mr. Compress or Kurogiri? I can definitely see Kurogiri getting involved from a narrative point-of-view. And, Aizawa is the one who made the plan so… Okay! Let’s go with Kurogiri, Y’all!

That’s right, Aoyama. You can still be a hero. …As long as you help us trick All For One.

I’m still disheartened by the traitor revelation. Aoyama or Hagakure, I just wanted a true villain as the spy. Instead, we get a by-the-books betrayal ending with everyone seemingly forgiving Belly Laser, with a chance at redemption thrown in for good measure. What’s Aoyama’s chance at redemption, you ask? Getting Deku alone, of course. That’s one of the orders AFO gave our sneaky friend. U.A. simply needs to have it appear Aoyama does exactly that to lure AFO in. Not AFO himself, mind you. He’s too smart to go himself, but U.A. can work with that somehow.

Deep breaths. Relax. Don’t panic. Now, where did I put my chainsaw?

Aoyama’s a traitor.

He’s the one who led the villains to USJ and the summer camp. Okay. He and Hagakure were the top two suspects. I get that. See, Horikoshi? I understand. I’ll even admit I like the Aoyama family drama. The general revelation coupled with learning Yuga’s parents put him in this precarious position along with Yuga’s sorrow of having to keep doing All For One’s bidding, knowing the current dreadful state of the entire country is solely on that megalomanic and his allies was enjoyable. I ‘m shocked. I’m intrigued.

I’m massively disappointed.

Having an unwilling participant be the U.A. traitor is so amazingly underwhelming I wanted to scream! Where’s the conflict? What about the repercussions? Will Aoyama get kicked out of U.A.? Of course, not. None of this is his fault! Years of wondering what the traitor will do next. Years of anticipating the sweet drama of Class A dealing with having a monster living with them this whole time, a person they thought a friend seeking their very destruction, gone. And in its place? A kid in over his head who will no doubt be forgiven because Horikoshi won’t push the envelope. Yes, this news makes sense, but it still sucks.

I was so excited last chapter at the prospect of having a willing betrayer in U.A.’s mist. Someone secretly more powerful than she let on. Damn! I was wondering why Horikoshi revealed Hagakure as the traitor last chapter without her doing something or entering her POV. This is the answer. Ugh!